Astrid's Surprise Party- Without Astrid?
by ScribeOfTheLegends
Summary: "You remember that time she was late for her own surprise party because she was setting up a defensive perimeter around Berk?" Fishlegs, RTTE Season 2 Two-shot. Hiccstrid. Post-RTTE, Pre-HTTYD 2. All the fluff!
1. Part 1

Prompt: "You remember that time she was late for her own surprise party because she was setting up a defensive perimeter around Berk?" ~Fishlegs, RTTE Season 2

Rated K Time zone: In between RTTE and HTTYD 2, I know Fishlegs said this before RTTE ended, but for this story I put it after. Also for Hiccstrid being official :)

* * *

The Great Hall was packed with feasting Vikings, merrily eating their dinner. Echoes of voices, dish ware, and utensils bounced off the walls and ceiling. The aroma of hot soup and meat filled the room. Lanterns cast yellow light across the hall from the candles that merrily burned inside them.

In a far corner, a group of dragons were also celebrating, drinking huge barrels of mead and gulping down buckets of fish. A sleek black dragon playfully nipped a blue-gold one as she squawked indignantly. They were a confusing mix of colors, tails, and wings.

One table in particular was having a very merry time, their voices causing other tables to glance their way. The small table in the left corner was unofficially reserved for the dragon riders. When the dragon academy opened, they had occupied that particular table and no one had dared sit there since. The twins, and Hiccup sat on one bench, and Snotlout and Fishlegs sat across from them on the other bench. They had just started eating, tired after a hard day of work at their respective jobs.

Snotlout slumped his head on the table. "Ugh." He complained. "Some days being the weapons tester is amazing, but today I hate my job."

Ruffnut snickered. "What, did you fall in a wheelbarrow full of scary weapons again?" She gave Tuffnut a high five.

Snotlout looked as if his bowl of soup was the most interesting thing in the world. "No... Wait, how do you guys know that?" He exclaimed, staring at them accusingly.

Tuffnut gestured wildly around with his spoon. "You see, Loki-ing is an art form best performed under cover."

"Amen to that, bro." Ruffnut crossed her arms.

Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Puh-lease. As if flying on Barf and Belch right out in the open is under cover."

Fishlegs chimed in, a leg of mutton in his hand. "Zipplebacks are actually regarded as the sneakiest type of dragon. It's weird, the Night Fury is sec-"

Snotlout shoved soup into his mouth. "Shut it, Fishface." He mumbled through a mouthful of soup.

Hiccup looked up as Astrid slumped into the seat across from him with a bowl of soup. She put her head in her hands and didn't look at any of them, instead staring at the table.

Fishlegs put down his fork and nudged her. "You okay?"

She shook her head miserably and picked up her spoon. "No. Stoick asked me to help set up security stuff and it took all day to build it because no one else wanted to help." She yawned, evidently tired. "Stormfly and I were chopping and building for hours."

Tuffnut whistled. "Geezuz. What kind of security stuff?"

She half heartedly took a spoonful of soup. "Catapults for offense, and part of a wall on the south side for offense. We got almost half the wall finished today, surprisingly."

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Is this the wall protecting the houses on the lower side of Raven's Point?"

"Yup." She put down her spoon and stared at her bowl. "You know what, I'm going to go back to my house. I don't think I can stay awake a moment longer."

Hiccup set his empty plate down on the table, next to his fork. "Hey, I'll walk you back."

She smiled at him, the relief evident in her eyes. "Thank you." She stood up, and Hiccup mirrored her.

He rolled his eyes as he heard Snotlout wolf-whistle loudly. "Be careful, lovebirds." He shouted after them.

Astrid joined him on the other side of the table and they navigated their way through the Great Hall. They carefully stepped over the many feet and legs sticking out, made sure not to cross the Terrible Terrors scuttling across the floor in search of scraps, and arrived to where their dragons were playing in the corner, along with Meatlug, Barf and Belch, and Hookfang.

Hiccup watched as Toothless poked one of Stormfly's spines, then jumped up and hissed. He laughed, "Toothless! You should know better than to touch Stormfly's spines."

Astrid sharply whistled, and Stormfly bounded across to her when she noticed the shrill sound. "Hey, girl. Having fun?" Stormfly nudged her softly with her head, and Astrid rubbed her. "Don't worry, I'm okay. Just tired, girl."

Hiccup put a hand to his mouth and called out, "Toothless!"

Much to his annoyance, the dragon didn't respond, instead hopping even farther away from Hiccup. Astrid chuckled behind him. "You can't even get your dragon over here?"

Hiccup deadpanned at her. "Oh, sure. It's all my fault." He tried stepping over to where Toothless had hopped away, and calling again. Thankfully, Toothless heard him this time and padded over to where Hiccup was, pushing his large scaly head into his hand.

Stormfly and Astrid had already headed toward the doors, and Hiccup hurried to follow them. He had just caught up to them when they opened the door and ducked outside.

He closed the humongous door behind them, blocking out the noises of chattering Vikings. He looked back to see Astrid leaning on Stormfly. "Are you okay?"

She pushed up off of Stormfly, nodding her head determinedly. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

He crossed over to her and gently looped his arm around her shoulders. "Do you see how tired you are? You've been working the whole day." He watched her face uncertainly as she sunk into his arm.

She looked up at him, her hand coming up to stifle a yawn. "I'll be fine. I just need to get some sleep." Stormfly cocked her head questioningly, and looked to Toothless.

They began walking to her house, their footsteps making soft scuffing noises in the absolute silence. Her house was located a few pathways away from the Great Hall. She shared it with her parents, now that it had been rebuilt from the attack from Dagur.

They reached the house with a blue Stormfly carving on the roof, and Hiccup turned her around to face him. "You sure you'll go right to sleep? No more working?"

She nodded, still leaning heavily on him. "You can stop worrying . I'm too worn out to do anything, I swear."

He smiled at her and tugged her in for a kiss. "Oh, I'll never stop worrying." He planted another kiss on her hair, and said, "Good night."

She smiled back at him, opening her door. "Good night, see you tomorrow."

He watched as the door shut, and then turned to Toothless, who was trying to follow Stormfly to her pen behind Astrid's house. "Oh, no you don't. Get back here."

Toothless bounded over, nudging his rider. He scratched his friend behind the ears, looking over to where he knew Raven's Point hid behind rows of houses. "Cmon, bud. We've got something to see."

* * *

Toothless and Hiccup silently flew over the houses near Raven's Point, almost invisible in the dark sky. Hiccup leaned over, looking for the south side. "I see it! That way."

Hiccup adjusted his foot to make sure Toothless could turn in the right direction, and steadied himself to adjust to the swinging motion.

Flying was basically multitasking, especially for him. The other riders just had to maintain their balance, and hold on tight. It wasn't as easy as it looked. Wind would buffet your face until your eyes teared and your face dried to feel like paper. Your legs and back could be stuck in the same position for hours at a time. You were flying on a dragon thousands of feet from the surface of the Earth, with sometimes only a saddle to keep you in place. It wasn't like sitting in a flying chair (which after years of practice they had made it look like). It was like sitting on a slippery, flying balloon. You could fall off at any moment.

And if you did fall, or your dragon dipped down or up sharply, a tugging sensation erupted in your gut and your anxiety would increase. You would feel weightless, gas-like, for what seemed like eternity.

It wasn't a secret that flying wasn't for wimps.

Good thing Vikings weren't wimps.

They swept over the south side of Raven's Point, and saw about five finished catapults facing the ocean. Behind them, a wooden wall about six feet tall and a little more than ten feet long stood.

Toothless gurgled questioningly, and Hiccup patted his head in response. "I know. There's no way Astrid and Stormfly did this all by themselves. They have got to have had help." They faced back towards the center of the village.

Toothless swiftly flew over the village, and they came to a stop in front of his house. He saw lights flickering on the windowsill, and knew his father must be inside. He pushed open the door and let Toothless squeeze his way through, then came inside himself.

He saw the massive figure of his father hunched over a desk, with piles of paperwork surrounding him. Hiccup winced, knowing it was one of those nights. Stock would have to stay up late taking care of the village's various problems. And being the tenacious Stoick the Vast, he wouldn't stop for a break. Stoick the Vast probably didn't even know what rest felt like.

He tried to slip quietly up to his room to avoid disturbing his father, but that was easier said than done when you had a dragon in tow. Toothless's tail promptly bashed against the wall and made a crashing noise that made both Stoick and Hiccup jump.

Stock adjusted his helmet and turned to face Hiccup. "Ah. You're back."

He winced again. "Sorry, didn't mean to disturb you."

Stock waved his hand. "It's not a problem. In fact, I was going to ask you to help me with it."

"What?" Help Stoick with his paperwork? It wasn't as if Hiccup had anything to do at the moment, but this had never been asked of him before.

"Come over here."

Hiccup curiously walked over to see Stoick brandishing a piece of paper. More specifically, a list.

"This is my list of things to do. Keeps it organized. Can you go through these and see if there's anything related to them in this pile?" He gestured toward a huge stack of papers.

"Uh, sure." He pulled over a chair, laid the to-do list in front of him and briefly skimmed the paper. The rations in the storehouse needed to be resupplied, the stables expanded, defense fortifications started...

Wait. Defense fortifications?

"Hey, Dad? Are the defense fortifications what Astrid was working on today?"

He nodded, not looking up from his work. "Five catapults, and a defensive wall needed to be finished. She and her team should finish it in two days."

He creased his eyebrows, perplexed. "She has a team?"

"Well, of course." Stoick finally looked up from his work. "I wouldn't expect Astrid and Stormfly to do all that work themselves. I gave her permission to choose four others and their dragons to work with her."

"She said she was working alone because no one else wanted to do it!"

"Really?" Stoick sighed. "Then that delays construction by a few days. I'll-"

"But she finished the catapults and almost all of the wall!"

"What?" Stoick's attention was now fully on Hiccup. "In one day?"

He nodded. "She told us at dinner, and after I walked her home, I went to see for myself."

Stoick rubbed his hand over his face. "Well." He finally stated. "She is..." He breathed. "A fast worker. I don't think Skullcrusher and I could have ever done that much in a day. How was she?"

Hiccup put the list back on his desk. "Completely worn out. Like I said, I had to walk her home."

At this, Stoick gave a small smile, that turned into, "I'm giving her the day off tomorrow, and I'll put others on that job. I want you to talk to her and get it into her mind that she can't wear herself out like that." He chuckled. "That is one hard-working girl."

Stoick stared into the fire a moment before he turned back around to Hiccup. "Oh, the day after tomorrow's her birthday. Ah, I'll just give her those days off. You know, it's refreshing to see a Berkian working so hard without me having to yell-"

"Wait, the day after next is HER BIRTHDAY?" Hiccup gripped the sides of his chair, staring open-mouthed at his dad.

"Well, yes." His dad seemed faintly amused. "Did you forget?"

"I didn't forget! It just... slipped my mind." He finished lamely. "Her birthday is in two days? It's one day by now, isn't it? Oh nooo..."

Stoick laughed, slapping a hand on his knee. "Well, you go and do whatever you need to do for your girl. I'll take care of all this."

Hiccup didn't say another word, just ran up the stairs to his room, where he promptly crashed to his bed.

Astrid's birthday was in one day and he had forgotten.

He heard the heavy thumping of Toothless jumping up the stairs. Toothless softly cooed and nudged Hiccup's side.

"Oh, bud." He whispered to him. "You know anywhere I could get something really amazing for her?"

* * *

Toothless didn't have any good ideas.

Either that, or he really wanted Hiccup to give Astrid a bucket of fish.

"Bud, I can't give her fish. It needs to be meaningful but not too sappy. It needs to be something she'll like and actually use." He wrung his hands. "Ugh, what could I get her?"

Toothless insistently pushed a fish toward Hiccup, flicking it onto his lap. The slimy cod slid off, but Toothless still flicked it back on. "What? Why... Oh. Breakfast."

Toothless glared at him reproachingly. The cod he had placed in his lap was left over from yesterday's dinner. Toothless now slurped it up, licking his teeth happily then nudging Hiccup toward the stairs. "Okay, okay! Your breakfast is coming soon!"

He trotted down the stairs just in time to see the door swing shut. He saw the massive figure of his father and shouted, "Bye, Dad!"

He heard a rumbling, "Bye, son!" in response, then pulled a barrel out of a corner. He lifted the lid and turned his nose up at the fishy odor. He spilled the contents out and watched as Toothless greedily pawed through the contents.

Wiping his hands on his pants, he opened a cabinet and extracted a loaf of bread and after rummaging through a few shelves, found a jar of lingonberry jam. He cut himself few slices of bread and spread them with the jam. He bit into one while he watched Toothless finish a particularly large cod.

What could he give Astrid? He had spent part of the night futilely trying to come up with gift ideas for her. He had eventually fallen asleep, only to wake up once again and spend part of the morning brainstorming.

He wanted it to be special. Astrid was turning 20, like he had a few months ago. This year's gift needed to be memorable, more so than the other years.

Every idea he dismissed. A necklace? She had once told him she didn't like to wear jewelry as it frequently got caught. The only piece of jewelry she would often wear was her betrothal necklace.

Maybe a... He was stuck. What did she need? He knew she needed fishing string, new soles for her boots, but he couldn't give her something like that for her birthday.

What did she use on a daily basis?

Then the answer came to him. It was so obvious, he didn't see how he didn't think of it before.

Leaving the last piece of bread hanging between his teeth, he ran back up the stairs and grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper. He hurriedly sketched out the rough draft of his idea, grinning with satisfaction when it was done.

Oh yeah. He had this birthday thing in the bag.

* * *

He tried to walk in there casually.

He really did try.

But no, Astrid had to walk in as soon as he had taken his first breath.

"Hey, Hiccup!" She greeted him. Then she watched as he jumped up and nearly hit his head on the forge ceiling.

He stumbled back to look at her. "Oh, hey, uh, hey, Astrid! How's it going?!"

She crossed her arms. "It's going like you are acting very strangely today."

He tried to calm his nerves and failed the next second. "Oh! Uh, no... I'm not."

She laughed. "No, you definitely are. Hey, Stoick gave me the day off. Wanna race?"

He laughed nervously. Wow, he was failing. "Actually, Gobber has me doing-" He gestured wildly toward the iron stoves, the mess of weapons, and Toothless's saddle. "Yeah. That."

She raised her eyebrow and he felt his pulse quicken. "Ohhhkay. Well, I'll leave you alone to whatever important thing you're doing. Snotlout and the twins want to race anyway. See you later!"

She turned, and he feebly called back, "Yeah, la-later!"

He saw her turn the corner, shaking her head and hearing her laughter. He heard a gurgling sound from the window where Toothless's head peeked in. "Oh, stop laughing, you."

He pulled the folded sketch from his pocket, then smoothed it down on his desk. He hopped around, collecting various supplies and lighting the forge. He had almost collected all the items needed when the door opened. He jumped and almost cracked his head on the ceiling again.

"What is it? You're jumpier than a burrow of rabbits today!"

He awkwardly turned back toward Gobber. "Sorry. I thought you were... someone else."

Gobber clomped in, heavily lopsided as usual. "What do you have the forge lighted up for? I didn't think you needed it."

"No one else is here, right?"

"No. Get on with it."

He sighed and waved a hand toward the supplies, and the sketch. "I'm making Astrid's birthday present."

"Ahh, that's right. Her birthday's tomorrow." He took a long glance at the sketch. "Ooh, she's going to like it. Need any help?"

"Sure. The forge needs more heat and-"

Gobber pulled a hunk of metal out of a barrel. "You're going to need a lot more metal than that. And more wood. And exactly two hammers. One sledge, one claw."

Hiccup shrugged and let his mentor guide him. "All right then. Two hammers coming up."

They worked for a while, each giving instructions to each other and sometimes bickering for ten minutes at a time. When the project was halfway done, Gobber remarked, "Ay, it's going along beautifully. You know what else you're going to do for Astrid tomorrow?"

He shook his head, though he knew Gobber couldn't see it as he was on the other side of the forge. "Nope. I'm going to try and plan something, though. She has the day off tomorrow and today."

"Well-" And Hiccup almost shrieked because Gobber's voice was right behind him.

He clutched his heart. "What is it with people sneaking up on me today?"

Gobber shrugged, still smoothing the wood that Hiccup had given to him. "It's not us, it's you. Anyway, you should plan a party, at least. It's her twentieth. Should be a big one."

"That's what I was thinking, but I don't have time to plan a party and get this finished by tomorrow."

"Don't worry about it! I'll do all the planning, decorations, all that stuff."

Scenarios of what could go wrong flushed through his head, and it was safe to say there were more than five. No, ten. "Could you get Fishlegs to plan it with you? And remember, you can't let Astrid know about it."

"Well, how is she going to know about it? Doesn't the person we're throwing the party for have to know about it to be there?"

"Not unless it's a surprise party. It should be a surprise party!" This would make it memorable, he thought. Everyone in the Great Hall, and he would usher her in as everyone leapt from hiding places and screamed, "SURPRISE!" And she would be so pleased.

"Good idea. That would make it memorable. How about when I finish smoothing and carving this, I'll go talk to Fishlegs about it."

"Sounds like a plan." Why had he been so worried? This wouldn't be a problem. Everything would go according to plan.

Right?

* * *

The wind blew freely in her hair, blasting her face as she flew on Stormfly around the island. She hadn't had a day off like this in a while. She relaxed her arms and legs, glad to be rid of some tension from earlier that morning.

She had been all ready to go to work on the rest of the wall when Stoick asked to speak with her. He had briefly informed her of her two-day vacation, caused by the fact that she had worked so hard on the defensive perimeters.

I mean, I guess I might've overworked myself, she thought. Maybe coming back dizzy and barely able to walk was a bad thing. But she had gotten all catapults and most of the wall up. She was proud of that.

Stormfly went into a sudden dive, and Astrid clutched her saddle as she slid forward and her stomach dropped. When Stormfly slowed, she exclaimed, "Whoa! What is it?"

She saw that Stormfly had spotted Raven's Point and had dove down toward it, under the assumption they had to work again. "Oh, no, girl, Stoick gave us the day off. We don't have to work today."

Stormfly shook herself insistently, pointing her tail down towards Raven's Point. "What?" Astrid took a closer look.

There wasn't anyone working on it! She was sure that Stoick had said there would be a team working on it today, but there wasn't a soul in sight. She groaned, then rubbed Stormfly apologetically. "I'm sorry, girl. We need to go look for the team before we can do anything else. Come on."

Stormfly swept over the forest as Astrid scanned the trees for any sign of the worker. It was a good thing the trees in this area were skinny and far apart, or else she would have never found anyone.

But even in the sparse forest she found no one. She circled around the area multiple times, but to no avail. No sign of anyone.

When they had circled around for the fifth time, Astrid admitted defeat. "They're not here. But where could they be? Or is there actually a team on it at all?"

Stormfly cocked her head inquisitively toward the wall. "What, do you really want to work? We have this day off!"

Stormfly started off toward the wall persistently. Sighing, Astrid took a closer look at the wall. It didn't need that much more, did it? Surely this could only take a few hours? And she didn't really need a vacation, did she?  
"Well, it's a good thing I brought an axe with me today. Even if it is Hoark's spare. Let's get to work!"

With a cheer, she and Stormfly swept toward the wall.

* * *

The next part of this Two-Shot will be coming soon! See if you can guess what Astrid's gift will be. There's a hint in this story and the last episode of RTTE. Thanks for reading, y'all! ~ScribeOfTheLegends


	2. Part 2

Astrid's Surprise Party- Without Astrid? Part 2

Hiccup sighed, finally extinguishing the forge's lit fires after scrutinizing his gift for what seemed like the tenth time. It was nighttime, and far too late to make any changes.

He brushed off a speck of dirt and allowed himself to admire it. He thought he'd done fairly well, seeing as he had had only a day to complete it. He decided against leaving it here for the night, in case Astrid found it or something happened to it. He gingerly picked it up, careful not to risk his work being ruined.

He took one last look around the forge to check for lasting flames, then carefully walked out of the building. It was already late, probably around eleven o'clock. A few lingering villagers milled around the Great Hall, where a few rays of light could still be seen through the open doors.

Toothless had already gone home. He had been trudging around the forge repeatedly, waiting for Hiccup to be done. When his head kept continually drooping, Hiccup had let him go back to their house.

He heard the thump of a prosthetic behind him, and turned to see Gobber striding toward him. "Hiccup! How's the-"

Hiccup shook his head warningly and Gobber quickly caught the message. "All right, all right. I'll whisper." Lowering his voice, he muttered, "So is it finished?"

Hiccup nodded toward his arms. "Yup. I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out."

Gobber's eyes glittered. "That's a beauty, all right. Well, Fishlegs and I have finished planning. Tomorrow morning, we'll start decorating the Great Hall. While we're doing that, her parents will distract her-"

"Why not me? I can keep her away from the Great Hall."

Raising an eyebrow, Gobber asked him, "Has anyone ever actually believed you when you lie?"

"Good point."

"Then her parents will direct her toward the Great Hall, and we surprise her once she walks in. Almost half the village is in on this. It's going to be almost as amazing as your twentieth party was!"

"Why almost?" He was confused.

"Well, seeing as you're the next Chief, you had a huge party. Remember when Stoick got so drunk he rode a yak around the hall for hours?"

They arrived at his house, and the door flew open as Toothless bounded toward them. "Hey, bud! Oh, be careful." He ducked inside the door, gingerly placing the gift on the table before rubbing Toothless's head. "Hey, someone's full of energy! Where was that when you nearly fell asleep earlier?"

Gobber grunted. "Well, see you tomorrow then. The plan'll be completely finalized and carried out by then. G'Night!"

Hiccup waved back. "Good night, see you tomorrow!" He closed the door behind Gobber and shooed Toothless away from the gift. "Hey, be careful now." He rubbed his chin. "Although I don't know why I'm being so wary. Not like it's easy to damage."

Sighing in relief, he and Toothless examined it. He chuckled when Toothless's huge green eyes took it in, almost reflecting it all.

He turned around when he heard his father's loud footsteps behind him. "Oh, hey, Dad!"

"Astrid's gift?" His father gestured toward it. "Very nice. You made it all yourself?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Gobber helped. Well, I better get to bed, I guess. Big day tomorrow!"

"Good night, then. Don't you worry, Astrid'll love it." Stoick turned back to his work, once again hunching over his desk. "Good night." Hiccup covered the present with a nearby cloth, then started to trudge up the stairs. His exhaustion set in; he had been working nonstop for the better part of a day.

Once upstairs, he took off his armor and briefly wiped the ash and dust off his clothes. Too tired to change into his nightclothes, he slumped down onto his bed and wearily watched as Toothless directed a steady flame toward his stone bed. The charred rock sizzled before dying out and being extinguished by Toothless curling up on it.

He rubbed his eyes, and then blew out his candle. The room darkened except for a sliver of moonlight from above his window, illuminating a stripe across his walls.

"Good night, bud." He heard a snort in response. He unlatched his prosthetic and swung his legs onto the bed, finally relaxing.

Finally. He smiled in the darkness. The gift was finally done.

* * *

"What?"

"You heard me. I need help with the stitches on this side. I just can't get the thread-"

"You want me to help you stitch?"

"My fingers just can't fit, and I really don't want to break this thread, I just couldn't find white anywhere-"

"Mom! You know I hate stitching! I have work today!"

She turned to see her father leaning on the doorway, watching their conversation. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Stoick gave me the day off, because it's your birthday. Now, if I remember right, you have the day off for precisely the same reason."

"Yeah, but I need to finish the defensive wall on Raven's Point. I'm almost done with it. And I don't want to stitch, it's my birthday!" The latter was directed at her mother.

Mrs. Hofferson leaned back in her chair, regarding her daughter. "How about instead of stitching, you and your father have some bonding time working together on the wall?"

Astrid was confused. The last time her mother had asked her to stitch something was three years ago and it had resulted in a literal search for a needle in a haystack. Mrs. Hofferson had since learned her lesson, and had never asked Astrid to stitch again.

And what was this with bonding time with her dad? She spent a lot of time with her father, as they were constantly assigned the same shifts for patrol and construction.

Her confusion only grew as her mother directed a meaningful glare at Mr. Hofferson after her question. Then Mr. Hofferson shrugged and nodded, mouthing something Astrid couldn't catch.

But she could use the help. The wall would be built a lot faster if she had another pair of hands and wings. "I mean, sure. I could use the help."

"All right then. I'll go get my axe and then we'll walk there." He turned and let the door swing shut.

Astrid's eyebrows knit together. "Walk? Hey, we have dragons!" She called after him, but he was out of earshot already.

Her mother shrugged, her eyes focused on her needle. "You'd better get going, dear. And stop by here as you're coming back, alright? There are a few things I need you to take care of."

For once, her mother's true intentions slipped past Astrid. She had to do chores all the time for her parents, she'd probably just have to lug the laundry back down from the hot springs. "Okay. See you later, mom."

She hurried out the door to grab her borrowed axe and whistle for Stormfly. "Come on, girl!" She opened the door in time to see Stormfly bound toward her. She laughed, stumbling back as Stormfly nudged her with her nose. "Hey, how are you doing today?" She scratched Stormfly's nose. "Ready to get to work?"

Stormfly chirped cheerily, and Astrid was about to clamber onto her back when she heard her father call, "Astrid! Not on Stormfly!"

Confused yet again, she and Stormfly turned toward her father. "What? Why not?"

"We're going to walk. I- my legs are feeling a bit stiff, I'd like to warm them up." He swung his axe from his shoulder to the ground. "Well then, let's get going!"

Astrid watched him start off towards Raven Point. It wasn't unusual for her father's legs to be sore and tired, but the whole morning had been strange.

She briefly glanced back before trotting to catch up to her father, then she did a double take and stared at the Great Hall behind her. She could only see the upper half of the doors from here, but even so, she could see the doors constantly swinging in and out. There were never that many people going in and out of the Great Hall, and usually the doors were kept open and stayed open.

What was going on today?

* * *

Food was piled onto a table, a cheerful assortment of baked goods and savory treats. The village bakers had agreed to give a few rolls, yet they had contributed to more than half of the food covering the table.

Presents covered another table, some large and some minuscule. Hiccup could see boxes and bags and letters and he suddenly felt self-conscious about his gift. He'd planned to give it to her alone, because if he put it on the table it would be obvious who gave it to her, and no longer a surprise. It wasn't even wrapped.

Fishlegs and Gobber raced around, trying to get all the decorations in place. They carefully pinned and prodded and placed and measured until the room was festively and appropriately decorated for a lavish birthday party. To top it all of, a banner hung from the ceiling, proclaiming, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASTRID!"

Hiccup and the others stood awkwardly off to the side, watching Gobber and Fishlegs do their thing. Tuff, Ruff, Hiccup, and Snotlout had decided to come early as Astrid's best friends, as the rest of the village would come when the party actually started.

"Is there anything you need us to do?" He called out to them.

Fishlegs feverishly shook his head. "Just don't touch anything!"

Tuffnut and Ruffnut rolled their eyes. They had already been ordered not to touch anything upon pain of death. It was a miracle the twins could stand still for so long.

Hiccup stretched his aching legs. "Hey, uh, can I sit here?"

Gobber looked over, and after a moment of contemplation, nodded. "That's alright."

He was about to sit down when he heard Fishlegs shriek, "DON'T SIT ON THE FOOD AND GIFT TABLES!"

Hiccup jumped back and breathed heavily. "I wasn't going to!"

Fishlegs clutched his heart. "Hiccup! You almost gave me a heart attack."

Hiccup spread his arms in exasperation. "What?" He turned around to see Snotlout and the twins shrugging.

Snotlout plopped onto the bench Hiccup was going to sit on. "It's Fishface, what do you expect?"

They waited for the rest of the decorations, and as the last few were being pinned up, the villagers began to arrive. The children eagerly ran around looking until Fishlegs gently shooed them off to play with the dragons outside. The parents stood around talking, and a few dropped off presents and food.

Everyone turned towards Gobber when he yelled, "All right! When the sun is directly over us, Astrid should come in. Then we jump up, the dragons will light up the room, and we'll yell 'Surprise!' Not before, not after, not anything other than surprise." He glared at them.

Fishlegs continued, "But while we're waiting, you need to crouch underneath the table. Five under a table at a time! And no sounds, no laughing! Only fifteen minutes left!"

There was a massive movement as everyone scrambled to get under a table. The twins, Snotlout, and Hiccup each scooted under a table, then scooted even further when Fishlegs joined them. The room was plunged into semi-darkness as Gobber blew out the candles and extinguished the torches.

Hiccup watched the sun meticulously, keeping track of the time. He got increasingly nervous as the minutes ticked by, the anticipation building fast in the quiet.

His palms were sweaty by thirteen.

His heart was pounding louder by fourteen.

He turned his gaze to the doors on fifteen.

He shared confused glances at sixteen.

And muttering and hushed talk spread around the room by twenty.

* * *

The sun burned above her and droplets of sweat beaded her face, but she welcomed the heat. On Berk, because the cold days far outnumbered the hot ones, she would jump at any chance to enjoy the sun.

Her arms were sore from the continuous chopping motion of raising her axe and bringing it down again on the tree trunk. Finally, after chopping all the way through the sturdy, hard wood, she felled the tree. Instinctively standing back, she watched as the tree fell, branches broke, and leaves flew everywhere.

Her father looked over from his own tree with pride on his face. "That's your third one today, isn't it?"

She took a moment to catch her breath. "Yeah. I'll get this wall done by today, for sure. Can you bring your logs to the wall to combine them with mine?"

"Sure. But remember, you and I have to go back to the house to help your mother. She's helping in the Great Hall for someone's naming ceremony." Mr. Hofferson began lugging his logs closer to the wall. "Once I get these logs over there, we'll have to go back."

Astrid groaned in exasperation. "What part of 'I'll get this wall done by today' did you not hear?" She set her borrowed axe aside and started to lug her own logs to the wall. "It's just a naming ceremony. How much preparation does that really take?"

Mr. Hofferson returned for another log. "More than you'd expect. How about I go now, to tell your mother you'll be a little late, while you're getting these logs to the wall? You have to promise to get to the Great Hall as soon as you finish. Got it?"

She tossed her log onto the growing stack of wood. "Got it. I'll be there as soon as I finish."

Mr. Hofferson smiled. "I'll see you there, then. Make sure to be there." He put a strange emphasis on his last sentence.

"Okay, okay! I got it. Bye!" She waved her hands in more exasperation as her father climbed onto his dragon, and took off into the sky.

She shook her head at Stormfly. "Can you believe it? They're coddling me so much today. Of course I'll remember to go to the Great Hall on time."

Stormfly cocked her head, and trotted up to help Astrid with the last log. She clutched it in her talons and easily transported it to the stack. "Thanks, girl."

"Now, we need to lodge the logs in with each other to build on top of the first layer. Hmm." She took a look at the wall, judging how many logs she would need. Behind her, Stormfly whipped her head around to the Great Hall, then back to Astrid, who had promptly forgotten to return to the Hall.

Stormfly trotted forward and squawked in her ear, causing Astrid to jump. Stormfly exaggeratedly gestured toward the Great Hall, but Astrid replied, "Okay, okay. Just lemme figure this out, then we can get back to work."

Stormfly covered her eyes in her own exasperation.

About half an hour passed as Astrid continued to build. She was on the final log, getting ready to lodge it in with the others, then Stormfly knocked her off of the wall where she had been sitting. She fell down and hit her head, hard. "Stormfly! What was that for?!"

Stormfly scooped her up on a wing, and managed to get Astrid on her saddle. "Whoa, what is it?"

She yelled in surprise when Stormfly immediately shot up to the sky, almost knocking Astrid off. "What-"

A feeling of dread filled her. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no. How long as it been?"

Stormfly rolled her eyes, then shot off toward the Great Hall. Astrid squeezed her eyes shut to avoid the wind in her eyes, ducking down in her saddle. "Okay, okay! Just drop me off and I'll explain to mom and dad."

Stormfly landed abruptly, and Astrid immediately jumped off. She hesitated, with her hand on the door. Stormfly gave a nod, and Astrid pushed the door open.

She saw darkness, only a strip of moonlight illuminating the room. She felt Stormfly coming in behind her, too. She could barely see anything, yet she heard muttering and talking and suddenly, a huge collective gasp.

Confused, she took another step into the dark room, then stumbled back against Stormfly as a huge "SURPRISE!" came from... beneath the tables?

And then the lights came on and allowed her to see people popping up from beneath the tables, with gifts and food everywhere, numerous decorations littered the room, and a huge banner that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASTRID!

She gaped, sure that her eyes were wide as saucers and her jaw had dropped to the floor. She could only stare in shock as people came barreling toward her, with all kinds of messages, from "Happy Birthday!" to "You're half an hour late!" to "You had us worried!" to "I'm only here for the food."

Her father and mother came toward her then, and enveloped her in a hug. "Happy Birthday." They both told her warmly.

Trying but failing to regain her senses, she stuttered, "It's my birthday?"

Her father threw back his head and laughed his loud, rollicking laugh. "Don't tell us you forgot!"

Astrid laughed then, and couldn't stop laughing for a very long time. "I'm sorry I was late."

Her mother smacked her father's head playfully. "It's this man's fault. I shouldn't have trusted him."

They laughed even more, as her parents stepped away to let Gobber, Fishlegs, the twins, Snotlout and Hiccup walk through.

Gobber cheered and raised her arm. "Happy Birthday, Astrid! You left us hanging for a while, though."

She chuckled. "I'm sorry, but thank you."

Fishlegs piped up, "Gobber and I did all the decorations, and the planning, and-"

Snotlout snorted. "I mean, you know that I did, like, 99% of the work, right? I did everything."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Sure. Sure you did."

They surrounded her in a happy semicircle of happy birthday wishes, jokes and laughter, and she thanked each of them repeatedly for their contribution.

Then she came to Hiccup, and her grin spread across her face. He slung his arms around her, enveloping her in a embrace.

She returned it, pecking his lips in return, then laughed when he grew a warm red. "What is it?"

"Uh, I, I have your gift. It, uh," She laughed at his stuttering. "It's not on the gift table, it would be too obvious, and I wanted it to be a surprise. Could you come over here?"

She let him pull her along, and her anticipation grew. She loved how his ears had grown red, yet he was so excited about showing her his gift for her.

He pulled her to a corner, shyly taking a large object from a crate that had been placed there. Then he showed it to her, and her breath caught.

It was an axe. But not just an axe. It was beautiful, with Viking runes carefully inscribed in the handle. It had a leather grip, and the wood was shiny and new. The metal was so smooth and clean she could see her reflection in it, however distorted. She could tell it was made of the strongest Gronckle Iron. It was unlike any axe she'd ever seen.

"I know you lost your axe in the battle against Johann, and I thought you needed a new special one, instead of you borro-" Happy tears had spilled down her eyes, and she carefully took the axe and laid it on the table next to them. Then, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and they stood there, softly swaying.

She heard loud, raucous cheering behind them, and knew that people were watching them and that their faces must have been bright red, but she didn't care. She kissed Hiccup even more deeply, smiling against his lips.

She had been late to her own birthday party, and had completely forgotten it was her birthday in the first place, but oh well. What else could you expect from Astrid Hofferson?

* * *

Thanks for reading! I hope you all are holding up alright in times like these. ~ScribeOfTheLegends


End file.
